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Dick Holland’s Support Mirrors His Passions

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By Steve Jordon
Celebrating the Arts

Separated by time, Dick Holland and Da’Von George are connected by their shared passion for art and communications — the late Holland, an Omaha advertising industry titan and Omaha University art graduate, and George, a future graphic designer.

Another connection: George is an inaugural recipient of a scholarship endowed by the family foundation of Holland and his wife, Mary. George will complete his bachelor’s degree in December at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media.

The Holland Foundation’s gift adds $2.5 million to a scholarship fund supporting students studying arts and communication. The UNO Richard Holland Endowed Scholarship Fund helps students like George, who is the first in his family to go to college and serves as a role model in his community. George coaches basketball and mentors boys in Omaha’s NorthStar program, which aims to support young men in North Omaha.

“A lot of these kids are asking me how to find scholarships and other questions about college,” he said. “It’s always good to get it into their heads that college is an option.”

After graduation, George aims to pursue freelance graphic design logos.  He and his brother recently started a clothing business.

“I love to do anything creative and love to create logos and design,” George said.

George has merged his passion for art with his love of skateboarding and recently created live art at an event hosted by SkateFest, an Omaha nonprofit whose mission is to develop skate culture for the Omaha inner city.

George said he is grateful for the support he received from the Holland Foundation. “It is so meaningful for me to not have the financial burden,” George said. “I feel honored to be an inaugural recipient of this scholarship.”

An inaugural recipient of a scholarship endowed by the Holland Foundation, UNO graphic design student Da’Von George said, “It takes the weight off my shoulders about having to worry about the financial aspects of this year.”
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Da’Von George and his brother, Ira George Jr., developed and designed a clothing brand called From the Rejected, and Da’Von George is doing freelance design work, such as creating business logos.

Melissa Berke, Ph.D., associate dean of the UNO College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media, said affording college is nearly impossible for some students. “We talk about the economic mobility that a college education provides,” she said, “and to have scholarships that provide that opportunity for students to graduate without enormous amounts of debt is amazing.”

The Holland Scholarship recipients, in turn, will impact their classmates. “The collaboration that happens between students who may not be as advantaged can broaden everyone’s lifetime experiences,” Berke said.

Advocating for Public Health

Dick Holland’s passion for health equity, reflected in a recent $2 million gift from his family foundation that established a presidential chair at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, already is seeding two high-potential efforts to save lives.

“We are innovative and we’re impatient,” said Ali S. Khan, M.D., dean of UNMC’s College of Public Health and the first holder of the Richard D. Holland Presidential Chair in Public Health, an endowed fund that provides Khan more than $80,000 a year for innovative work in improving community health.

“I spend all my time thinking about how to make Nebraska the healthiest state in the union,” Khan said. “It was not surprising Dick Holland wanted to help, given his passion for social justice and public health.”

Guided by Holland’s interest in children’s issues, Khan directed part of the chair’s first-year proceeds toward an academic-private industry health coalition that aims to reduce maternal and infant mortality in Nebraska and eliminate heath inequity.

He also is funding development of a K-12 curriculum, including an online game called Zoodemic, dealing with public health and agricultural pathogens such as avian flu. Goals include supporting healthy behaviors while working with animals at state and county agricultural fairs and starting public health clubs in every school.

Larger national grants will finance these programs’ long-term growth across the nation and could yield significant impact, Khan said.

“That’s what the Holland money does,” Khan said. “It gives us seed money for a small project that will move forward to a much larger project to catalyze good change.”

‘Teaching is My Calling’

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By Susan Houston Klaus

Wheeler Elementary School teacher Emily Lorenzen loves that her 26 second-graders are so eager to learn and try new things. The Millard Public Schools teacher has felt the same connection to the classroom since she was not much older than her students are.

“My aunt was my preschool teacher, and in elementary, middle and high school, I would always go back to her classroom on days that I had off and just help out with whatever her class was doing,” Lorenzen said.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha graduate, who recently earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, always thought she would have a career in the classroom.

“I just knew that teaching was my calling,” she said.

Lorenzen also has benefited from being a UNO Teacher Scholars Academy student at the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences. The donor-supported academy, also offered at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, provides scholarships and prepares students for teaching careers in the local community through experiential learning. A cohort-based program, the academy was created to address the immediate need for educators and grow the teacher workforce in the state.

Lorenzen said the scholarships provided by the academy have made a world of difference.

“I didn’t have to have the stress of finances and how I was going to afford college,” Lorenzen said. “I just feel very grateful, because I don’t have any loans to pay off. The scholarship also provided me with money to provide supplies for my classroom last year, which was really helpful to making my classroom how I wanted it to be.”

The first cohorts for the Teacher Scholars Academy started in 2019. Since it began, the UNO TSA has enrolled 114 teacher scholars, with a retention rate of 87%. The UNL TSA has enrolled 156 students, with a 91% overall retention rate.

“What is impressive to me is the quality of students TSA attracts and to watch these students grow into critical-thinking, empathetic and sophisticated teacher leaders,” said Braden Foreman-Black, UNL Teacher Scholars Academy coordinator. “Now that we are seeing the payoff of these students now teaching in Nebraska schools, I cannot be prouder of ways we can continue to push the field of teaching to meet the current demands of schools.”

Teacher Scholars Academy graduate Paul Pechous earned his bachelor’s degree in education and special education from UNL in 2024. Today, he’s a special education teacher at North Ridge Middle School in Elkhorn Public Schools. Pechous said building lasting connections with his cohort community has played a key role in reinforcing his decision to become an educator. Those supportive relationships have continued, as graduates helped each other prepare for their first semester of classes last fall.

“I think having a group of like-minded people has been transformative, and it’s reassured me that teaching is what I was meant to do and what I’m supposed to do,” Pechous said.

North Ridge Middle School teacher and Teacher Scholars Academy graduate Paul Pechous

UNO’s FNBO Code Studio Mirrors Professional Workspaces

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By Sara Badura

Ashita Abraham, a junior double-majoring in cybersecurity and computer science at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, spends a lot of time working independently on her coursework.

So, she welcomed the interactive format in her Introduction to Mathematical Proofs class, a one-credit, six-week course she took in the spring of 2024. Instead of in a typical classroom, she found herself in the FNBO Code Studio.

Located on the second floor of the Peter Kiewit Institute building on UNO’s Scott Campus, the FNBO Code Studio serves as a space for computer science students to connect and collaborate with classmates. The studio opened in fall 2023, supported by a generous gift from FNBO (First National Bank of Omaha). An outdated computer lab was refurbished and transformed into a modern tech space, with oval tables, docking stations and whiteboards.

FNBO also made a gift through the University of Nebraska Foundation to create an endowed scholarship to assist students pursuing a degree in the College of Information Science & Technology.

“I loved the whole setup of the Code Studio, which is, when compared to normal classrooms, much more engaging,” Abraham said. “We even had a couple of small TVs and TV screens where students at each and every table could see what the professor was projecting.”

Students and faculty alike appreciate the design of the FNBO Code Studio, said Mahadevan Subramaniam (Subu), Ph.D., professor and chair of the Computer Science Department at UNO. Subu had his first opportunity to teach in the code studio as the instructor leading the Introduction to Mathematical Proofs course.

“At UNO, we talk in terms of small class sizes and having a very nice faculty-to-student ratio,” Subu said. “That’s really important because computer science programs at some institutions across the country have huge classes with hundreds of students.”

UNO prides itself on providing an excellent computer science education while also giving students opportunities for small group and individual experiences, he said.

The FNBO Code Studio provides an ideal learning environment while helping prepare students for their future professional careers, Subu said. Computer science studies often involve individual work, but collaborating with others is crucial to success in the field.

“I think that this kind of an environment makes the transition into the workforce a little bit easier because you’re used to talking to small groups,” Subu said. “You interact with small groups, and you know how to express your ideas.”

UNO student Ashita Abraham
UNO student Thomas Minnich

Thomas Minnich, a UNO senior majoring in computer science, was another student in Subu’s mathematical proofs class in the FNBO Code Studio. He said about half his time in the class was spent working on group projects. The tech-friendly space made it easy for students to plug in their laptops and share their projects on monitors around the room.

Minnich said the FNBO Code Studio is a “great collaborative space” that encourages interactions like those he expects to find in the professional world.

This summer, he completed an internship in software development. In the life cycle of developing code, he said, time is invested early to talk about ideas and make design decisions “before you even start to write the code.”

“Having that social interaction really helps prepare you for real-world challenges when it comes to IT and software development, where a lot of time is spent talking to people,” Minnich said.

Once a Goodricher, Always a Goodricher

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Trustee Gives Back to Storied Scholarship

By Robyn Murray

For Larry Bradley, scholarship support was the chance he needed. Growing up in a modest neighborhood in North Omaha, Bradley’s father was a truck driver and his mother worked in the public school system. Neither had attended college, but they made sure their children knew college was their future.

Not going was not an option, Bradley said, although how to pay for it was less clear.

“None of us could afford to attend school without significant assistance and financial aid,” he said. “We definitely needed that as a family.”

Bradley worked full time while attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha — enrolling in summer school and night classes to fit the coursework around work schedules. Bradley ticked off several jobs he held from middle school through college: caddie at the Omaha Country Club; dishwasher; busser; and bank teller. “You name it, I did it,” he said.

Working helped Bradley pay for living expenses and other essentials. But to cover his tuition, he received assistance from a storied institution that proved to be a crucial lifeline: the Goodrich Scholarship Program.

The Goodrich Scholarship Program has served more than 3,500 students since it was established in 1972.

Established in 1972 through legislation championed by Nebraska Sen. Glenn Goodrich, the Goodrich Scholarship Program provides tuition assistance for high-achieving students, many of whom are first generation, low income and underrepresented. It also provides robust support services, which Bradley leaned on.

“I relied on Goodrich to mentor me through school,” Bradley said. “I developed really tight relationships with the Goodrich professors. The overall family of support that Goodrich provided was pretty remarkable, especially for a young struggling kid.”

Goodrich requires students to complete a two-year humanities and social science curriculum that emphasizes cultural and intellectual diversity. Bradley said the courses were some of his favorites at UNO, and the program’s emphasis on diversity provided valuable perspective.

“It really did give me a very broad, diverse outlook,” Bradley said. “I personally support a wide variety of philanthropic causes that are devoted to first-generation college students and students of color and individuals with diverse backgrounds. It’s very important to me, and I think a lot of that perspective was formed as a result of my experience at Goodrich.”

The support Goodrich provided and the experience of juggling multiple priorities laid the groundwork for a successful career. Bradley, who is a University of Nebraska Foundation Trustee, currently oversees 90,000 employees as global head of audit at KPMG International, where he has worked for more than 40 years.

In gratitude for that success, Bradley has given back to the Goodrich program for decades, supporting supplemental funds for textbooks and summer school courses that are not covered by the state-funded scholarship. Recently, he established an endowed professorship, which he hopes will help ensure the long-term sustainability of the program. Student access and success and creating new endowed professorships are top priorities of the Only in Nebraska campaign.

Graduates of the Goodrich program have gone on to become lawyers, educators, doctors, artists and business professionals. Bradley said Goodrich offers the means for students from all backgrounds to succeed.

“If there’s a way to break out of a cycle of poverty and to really make a difference,” Bradley said, “there’s no question that having scholarship support to allow students to achieve a college degree is critical to making that a possibility.”

Medical Students Inspired to Make a Difference

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The three students all say they received mentorship and support from the Scott Scholars Program at UNO, and now as part of UNMC’s inaugural class

By Connie White

Ryan Chapman wants to help others, so he hopes someday to be an internal medicine physician or study infectious diseases.

Heather Richard feels drawn to pediatric hematology and oncology because she loves working with children.

Nour Elrokhsi is exploring a career as a primary care physician because she has personally witnessed how health care can change lives.

Chapman, Richard and Elrokhsi, all from the Omaha area, are medical students at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. All three say their interest in health care stems from a desire to make a difference in the world. And all three credit the Scott Scholars Program with providing mentorship and support to inspire their future health care careers.

The Suzanne & Walter Scott Foundation pledged $23 million to sustain and grow the prestigious Scott Scholars Program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where it was established by the late Omaha philanthropist Walter Scott, Jr. The gift commitment also supports an expansion of the program to UNMC, where 12 Scott Scholars began their first year of medical school in fall 2023.

Chapman, Richard and Elrokhsi all are graduates of the UNO Scott Scholars Program, launched in 1997 to help keep high-achieving STEM students in Nebraska. The three also are members of the inaugural class of Scott Scholars at UNMC.

Here are their stories:

Ryan Chapman

Chapman, who graduated from Skutt Catholic High School, said that when he arrived at UNO, he planned to become a computer programmer. Then he did a computer science internship with a local company between his freshman and sophomore years. He had a good experience but decided he wanted a career where he could make a more personal impact.

That fall, he enrolled in more science courses and volunteered for the Omaha VA Medical Center.

“I decided that I wanted a job where I’m able to directly work with and help other people,” he said. “I think the Scott Scholars Program helped me to think about it.”

He said his path to medical school was a direct result of leadership classes he took in the Scott Scholars Program, along with the mentorship of Harnoor Dhaliwal, Ph.D., and Wayne Watkins, the leaders of the program.

“The Scott Scholars Program has challenged me to think beyond what I imagined for myself and encouraged me to find a career where I can impact the lives of others,” Chapman said. “I know UNMC will train me to be a great physician.”

Heather Richard

Richard, who graduated from Bellevue West High School, said she has always been interested in the human body and science. Through volunteer opportunities and clinical experiences at UNO, she set a goal to become a physician.

“I have a profound desire to make an impact on patients’ lives,” Richard said.

She said the Scott Scholars Program provided her with a sense of community and made her UNO undergraduate experience enjoyable. Growing up, she was shy and introverted. The program’s leaders helped her step out of her shell and develop communication skills and grow her confidence. She also learned that there are different kinds of leaders.

“You can be a leader even if you’re more quiet and more introverted,” Richard said.

She recalled meeting Walter Scott, Jr., during a reception while a UNO student.

“I remember he treated us with kindness and with so much respect,” she said. “We were a part of his community and his family, in a way.”

After she finishes her training, Richard said, she hopes to practice medicine in Nebraska.

“My family is here,” she said. “I want to be involved in this community and serve Nebraska.”

Nour Elrokhsi

Elrokhsi, who graduated from Millard North High School, said she always knew she wanted to work in health care. Her parents are physicians, so she learned early on the power of health care to change lives.

“Medicine has been something I’ve been around my whole life,” she said.

Through the Scott Scholars Program, she worked with the Munroe-Meyer Institute to propose design ideas for its dental clinic. Working with a team of students that included Richard, the group offered ideas to make neurodivergent patients more comfortable, including adjustments to lighting, images on the projector screens, and even the texture on the exam chairs.

Elrokhsi said primary care is an umbrella term for a host of specialties, including pediatrics, internal medicine and family medicine. She said another area of interest is psychiatry.

“I like the personal aspects of these specialties,” she said. “You get to know your patients, and they become friends.”

She is “just incredibly grateful” for the scholarship assistance she has received through the Scott Scholars Program and for the mentorship and support.

“They believe in you more than you believe in yourself,” Elrokhsi said of the program’s leaders.

She sees herself staying in Nebraska after she completes her medical school training.

“Nebraska has grown on me,” said Elrokhsi, who was born in Libya. “UNMC is an incredible institution and to be able to do my medical training here is a privilege. To continue that here would be wonderful.”

Where Curiosity Becomes Purpose

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Students Interested in Health Care Start Their Careers at UNO

By Robyn Murray

For Cami Bisson, it was a class called Introduction to Health Careers that got her started. Now a senior at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Bisson discovered a career she’d never considered: genetic counseling.

“I was, like, wow, that is super interesting,” Bisson said, “to be able to know and understand how these [genetic] interactions unfold and are responsible for everything that goes on in our bodies every single day.”

When Bisson, a first-generation college student, first enrolled at UNO, she didn’t want to work in health care. Her mother is a medical assistant, and Bisson had seen the long hours she put in and how she sometimes took a second job to support her family. But when Bisson learned more about her options, she changed course.    

“There was something about being in the medical field, of having a knowledge base and being able to share that with people, while also getting to hear other people’s perspectives and stories based on their experiences, that really drew me in,” Bisson said.

Bisson is just the kind of student Nebraska needs. The state is facing a severe shortage of health care professionals. From physicians to dentists, pharmacists to occupational therapists, counties across the state are in dire need. As the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s closest partner by proximity, UNO plays an essential role in tackling this challenge by providing foundational STEM classes and a path to a health professions education. But that can be a tall order, because pursuing a career in health care requires a lot  — of education, money, time and, critically, confidence.

Cami Bisson is a first-generation college student who plans to pursue a post-graduate degree in genetic counseling.

Financial support goes a long way; mental support goes a long way, because it’s a long process for students who are thinking of pursuing higher education beyond the college level.

Winnie Ladu
Give Now

“It’s intense,” said Paul W. Denton, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology at UNO. “The competition is very high to get into health care, and students feel the pressure even before they walk onto campus. They wonder if one mistake can remove their potential.”

Denton said one setback can get in the way of a student completing their undergraduate degree before they’ve even had a chance to get into their health care training program. That is particularly true for first-generation college students, who may not have support networks at home or resources to draw from. He recalled a student whose car was totaled after she was rear-ended. She couldn’t afford to replace it, so she struggled to get to class.

“It’s heartbreaking to see somebody who, if something bad happens, can’t get themselves out of that hole,” Denton said. “It can change their trajectory completely.”

Ensuring pre-health students receive the support they need to succeed is a top priority for the College of Arts and Sciences in Only in Nebraska: A Campaign for Our University’s Future.

Winnie Ladu, the daughter of South Sudanese immigrants, aims to attend UNMC in the fall with plans to become a physician.

Denton said an emergency fund would go a long way to supporting pre-health students. One resource currently on campus is shepherding pre-health students through graduation. The Urban Health Opportunities Program, which is partly supported by private donations, offers full tuition assistance, wraparound support and guaranteed entry to UNMC if program requirements are met. For students like Winnie Ladu, a pre-health senior at UNO, UHOP made all the difference.

“Financial support goes a long way, mental support goes a long way,” Ladu said. “Because it’s a long process for students who are thinking of pursuing higher education beyond the college level.”

Ladu is the daughter of South Sudanese immigrants and aims to attend UNMC in the fall with plans to become a physician. She said the South Sudanese community in Omaha will celebrate with her.

“I think it’ll be a great accomplishment for not only myself, but for all of us,” Ladu said, “because we all hold each other up.”

As a physician, Ladu hopes to serve the South Sudanese community in Omaha as well as other refugee and immigrant groups. She believes she will connect with them as a health care provider who shares their background. Diversity in the health care workforce is another critical need, as Nebraska’s demographics continue to change.

Paul Davis, Ph.D., directs the Health Careers Resource Center, which manages the Urban Health Opportunities Program.

“Studies have clearly shown that when you train someone from a community and they return to that community, the payback is awesome,” said Paul Davis, Ph.D., professor of biology and the director of the Health Careers Resource Center, which manages UHOP. “The community feels more connected, the individual patient feels connected to their provider, and providers are able to give back beyond just their day job. Those things really move the peg.”

Davis said, as the state’s metropolitan university, UNO draws people from various backgrounds, which is particularly helpful to address the health care shortage but also means students enter UNO at all levels of preparedness.

“The undergraduate university experience is really where it should all come together,” Davis said. “The goal of coming to a place like UNO is to help bring everyone up to the same level, so that by the time they leave they’re ready for the challenges.”

Davis said he wants to ensure UNO’s STEM education continues to excel, and he hopes to reach more students earlier. Denton works with UNO students who serve as STEM mentors in Omaha’s public schools, which he said pays dividends.   

“If you try to engage students at the college level and they’ve already convinced themselves that they can’t do math, or that they’re not a science person, you can’t really reach them,” Denton said.

“I think we need to help build our K12 students up even before they get to UNO, because we might bring some students to campus who otherwise would never have created a shadow on our door.”

Reaching Students Where They Are

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By Robyn Murray

Lou Anne Rinn hasn’t simply considered the benefits of giving back to students at her alma mater, the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She has thought about the most effective ways to reach them — about the obstacles that might stand in their way and how best she can help students get around them.

Rinn, a Burnett Society member, received help in many forms in her education and career, and now she wants to pay it back.

“I’ve been blessed in many ways, and it’s rewarding to be able to share that blessing in a way that makes a tangible difference to a lot of people,” Rinn said.

Rinn was raised in Omaha by Irish American parents. Her father, after serving in the U.S. Navy, worked for Western Electric, helping to find efficiencies in its manufacturing and business processes. Her mother worked as a registered nurse, after raising eight kids in the home. Rinn said her parents were proud of what Irish Americans had achieved in the U.S., and that helped her understand the value of giving back to students from nontraditional backgrounds, including immigrants and people from working-class families.

I've been blessed in many ways, and it's rewarding to be able to share that blessing in a way that makes a tangible difference to a lot of people.

Lou Anne Rinn

“I had the benefit of coming from a family where both of my parents had college degrees and who instilled in me early the expectations that I would go to college,” Rinn said. “There are many other bright young people and not-so-young people who value getting an education but who come from backgrounds where they don’t have the resources to make getting a college education available.”

Rinn has established and supported several scholarships in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNO as outright gifts and as planned gifts through bequests. One she helped create is the Cross the Finish Line Scholarship, which supports students who are close to completing their degrees but need additional financial support to graduate due to unexpected or exceptional circumstances.

Rinn also created a scholarship for returning students, which she said helps those compelled to drop out due to lack of resources or other demands on their time and energy, such as supporting their families. She views the scholarship as a complement to the Cross the Finish Line Scholarship.

“Cross the Finish Line hopefully prevents students from dropping out,” Rinn said, “and Returning Student helps those who did drop out come back and finish what they started.”

Rinn has also set up a fund to support study abroad opportunities and other real-world experiences. She said she has benefited from people willing to make sacrifices to provide her a good education — whether that was her parents paying for private school tuition, the sisters at the Catholic schools she attended or the Regents Scholarship she was awarded to attend UNO.

“Without that education, I would not have had the career opportunities I’ve had,” Rinn said. “That was made possible by other people willing to give money — either by donations or by taxes. So, if I was to thoroughly appreciate that, then I had to be prepared to give back as well.”

Rinn graduated from UNO and went on to study law at Columbia University, where she also received scholarships and financial aid. She then began a successful career as a transportation attorney for Union Pacific. She said she found her career rewarding because she participated during a tumultuous time for transportation law.

“I got to be there at a time when the railroad and railroad industry were having to change from a very bureaucratic, overregulated environment that was focused on some really arcane notions of fairness or equality into one that was being free to respond to market forces in a very competitive transportation world,” Rinn said. “It was a fascinating journey and really interesting to be able to help with that shift.”

Rinn believes her degree at UNO helped her succeed in a constantly shifting environment. She said she used both her economics and

political science majors in her career and also called on other disciplines, such as physics, math, geography, history and logic to solve problems or prepare evidence.

“An arts and sciences degree from UNO equips you to keep learning and to communicate with others about new information,” she said.

Rinn said she believes in the power of education, which is a lifelong journey.

“A college degree is not the end of education,” Rinn said. “It’s really a license to learn. It certifies that you have the capability of absorbing information, thinking critically and communicating, and it doesn’t stop once you get your degree. Those are life skills that are really valuable that you take with you.”

Learning to Fly

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By Susan Houston Klaus

Aviation Gift Fuels Students’ Jet Training

Gemma Ossi got a head start on her love for aviation. Shadowing her mother, who flew for United Airlines, she had a behind-the-scenes look at what it means to be a pilot.

Ossi said one of her favorite experiences was at 17, when she tagged along with her mom to go inside a flight simulator to watch the pilots train.

Today, as a student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute in the College of Public Affairs and Community Service, Ossi is on her way to becoming a professional pilot herself.
It’s an in-demand job, especially at regional and charter carriers, and regional operators are eager to fill these positions, said Scott Vlasek, UNO Aviation Institute director.

According to the Regional Airline Association, regional airlines provide 50% or more of the air service in Nebraska. But nearly 50% of the qualified pilot workforce must retire in 15 years  — and that’s impacting regional carriers.

UNO aviation student Gemma Ossi is gaining hands-on experience thanks to a gift from the Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundation.

Supporting Nebraska’s workforce needs is a key priority of Only in Nebraska: A Campaign for Our University’s Future. The campaign aims to meet these needs in part by focusing on improving student access and success.

Ossi and others have been provided an instrumental tool in their academic and career success, thanks to a new addition at the institute — a Boeing 737 jet simulator.

Made possible by a gift from the Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundation, the new Boeing 737 Flight Training Device from Flightdeck Solutions (FDS) offers tactile training with a full-replica cockpit built to scale.

A 200-degree curved screen wraps around the nose of the simulated aircraft, providing pilots with an immersive, seamless first-person view as they simulate flights to and from real-world airports, including Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. It features high-level Sim-Avionics Flight Management System software that fully simulates the operations and measurements of the aircraft on its journey.

The Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundation was established in 1972 by its founder, Ethel S. Abbott, who passed away in 1992.

Ethel Abbott was an aviation pioneer who with her first husband, Raymond H. Page, operated the Lincoln Aircraft Company in Lincoln, Nebraska. The couple trained student pilots, and together they taught aviation legend Charles Lindbergh to fly.

It’s truly such a valuable opportunity that we have at our fingertips to use because it’s going to set us up so well. It fuels my fire, knowing that I can be in something so similar to where I’m going to be in a few years — just practicing and getting ready for the big moment.

“Our mission is to perpetuate the charitable generosity that Ethel S. Abbott demonstrated through her 97 years of life,” said Dorothy Pflug, president of the Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundation. “Flight training technologies have evolved tremendously from the aircraft the Pages used to teach Charles Lindbergh to fly. We are pleased to support the next generation of aviators as they pursue their own dreams of flying.”

Many students previously have never seen or been in anything like the simulator, said Vlasek.

“Where it’s really going to pay off is preparing them to make that transition to flying in jets, which is where you’re seeing that workforce issue, especially at the regional and commuter level of airlines,” he said.

The simulator offers early exposure to an important kind of training for these future professionals, Vlasek noted.

“When they make that jump from doing training to being a flight instructor to flying at that first airline,” he said, “they’ll have some basic understanding of some of the systems.”

Even more important, students gain a better understanding of decision making at 500 miles an hour, Vlasek said.

“We can start to prepare them to make that transition,” he said, “so when they go into training they will have seen these different systems and have been able to react from a critical-thinking standpoint to making decisions faster.”

Ossi said the experience being in the simulator is “scary accurate, and that gets me so excited because this is almost the real thing.”

“It’s truly such a valuable opportunity that we have at our fingertips to use because it’s going to set us up so well,” she added. “It fuels my fire, knowing that I can be in something so similar to where I’m going to be in a few years  — just practicing and getting ready for the big moment.”

After she graduates in spring 2025, Ossi plans to put her experience to work in the area. She expects to work as a flight instructor at the Council Bluffs Municipal Airport, where she currently flies, then fly for a regional or charter operation. Her ultimate goal is to be a pilot for a major airline, like her mom.

“Aviation truly has so much to offer. I want to experience as much of it as I can,” Ossi said.

Thanks to the early experience she’s getting in the jet simulator, she and other students in the program will be well prepared to join the workforce and make their mark in the industry.

The Identity of an Urban University

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By Robyn Murray

Omaha Philanthropists Invest in Leadership at UNO

Joanne Li did not grow up in Omaha. But while she is relatively new to the city — she became chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2021 — the Hong Kong native’s passion for Omaha is clear. 

Pointing to redevelopment projects, such as the RiverFront transformation that encompasses 72 acres and three downtown parks, Li said Omaha is a city where people care about each other and come together to achieve great things.

“I find Omaha fascinating,” Li said. “[It is] a very relational town. People work very hard to build relationships. And they work equally hard, if not harder, to maintain the relationship. So that is actually very heartwarming.”

If we successfully provide an affordable, accessible education, we’ll be able to elevate our community.

UNO Chancellor Joanne Li, Ph.D., CFA

Li began her academic career in Florida as a first-generation college student. After graduating summa cum laude with her finance degree and her doctorate from Florida State University, she went on to earn her Chartered Financial Analyst designation. She served as dean and professor of finance at the Raj Soin College of Business at Wright State University in Ohio before becoming dean of the Florida International University College of Business, serving 11,000 students. 

At UNO, Li impressed the hiring committee with her passion for the essential responsibility of an urban university, which she believes is to educate by inclusion, not exclusion.

“We know that we have to do right by our community,” Li said. “If we successfully provide an affordable, accessible education … we’ll be able to elevate our community.”

Approximately 40% of UNO students are first-generation college students, Li said. In addition, more than one-third are eligible for Pell Grants.

“Our job here is to create social and economic mobility that will lead to what I call multigenerational prosperity, developing economic prosperity and mobility for the family,” Li said.

In addition to being “a font of creativity and discovery,” Li said UNO’s responsibilities are threefold: Educate the people of the world; contribute pragmatic research that impacts and improves the community; and serve the community to solve real problems. 

“In any given year, UNO students and faculty donate more than 300,000 hours of community service to this community,” Li said. “And because this is the identity of an urban university … we say let’s understand the challenges of the community; let’s do something that can solve problems for all communities.” 

Li’s community-based vision for UNO helped inspire a $19 million landmark gift to the university from Omaha philanthropists Barbara and Wally Weitz.

“It is thrilling to be a part of a place that is doing the kind of things that are happening at UNO,” Barbara Weitz said. “This institution, and the University of Nebraska as a whole, are incredibly valuable because of the education they provide and for their importance to the economy of the state. We must have well-educated citizens for Nebraska.” 

A former faculty member of UNO and current University of Nebraska regent, Barbara Weitz is most recognizable on campus for her namesake, the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center — a historic building that opened in 2014 and was a result of her vision for UNO as a community-first university. 

In June, Barbara Weitz and her husband, Wally, designated $14 million to create the Weitz Innovation and Excellence Fund and $5 million to establish the Barbara and Wally Weitz Endowed Chair in Higher Education Leadership — a first for the University of Nebraska System as a gift attached to a chancellor’s position. 

“First and foremost, I feel extremely honored to be the first chancellor that will hold an endowed position,” Li said. “Barb and Wally understand how the education leadership pool is getting very tight. They want to send a credible signal, not just for Joanne Li but all the future chancellors, that this university is worth investing in, so let’s make sure that we can get the best leadership in place.” 

Li said the Weitzes’ investment in innovation is visionary and particularly impactful as the university faces budget tightening. 

“It’s a very smart way to incentivize the right behavior,” Li said. “So often universities will not have the opportunity to have what we call ‘financial slack,’ to invest in exciting initiatives that can propel research and improve operations that can bring in efficiencies.”

 Li said universities use every dollar to invest in student success, but that can leave little room to look to the future.

Chancellor Li and UNO students pose for a photo while celebrating I Love NU Day at the Nebraska State Capitol Building in Lincoln, Nebraska on Wednesday, April 5, 2023.
Chancellor Joanne Li celebrating "I Love NU" Day with students at the Nebraska State Capitol.

“Research and development must be intentional,” Li said. The Weitz gift communicates “that we will stand by you, provide you the right aspiration, the right incentive to go and do great things that will bring great returns on investment for this university. It’s an ingenious gift and really timely.” 

The investment reminds Li of what has made Omaha feel like home since her arrival on campus two years ago: a community that cares and aspires to be greater. 

“There is no community better than a community that really believes in itself,” Li said. “So their philanthropic support is a very credible signal to tell the world: This community believes in itself.”

Fall Giving Days Will Support UNK and UNO

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Mark your calendars now for two opportunities this fall to support the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

One Day for UNK, Oct. 5-6

Coming up in October is One Day for UNK. This 24-hour day of giving will start at noon Oct. 5 and conclude at noon Oct. 6. Supporters will have the opportunity to make a gift in support of UNK scholarships, colleges and programs, Loper athletics, student organizations and other priorities.

UNK has set a goal to receive 1,905 gifts in honor of its founding year. Donors making gifts totaling $65 or more will receive a reversible UNK bucket hat to sport their Loper pride. To learn more, go to givingday.unk.edu.

Wear Black, Give Back, Nov. 8-9

Wear Black, Give Back, UNO’s giving day, will be from noon to noon Nov. 8 and 9. Alumni, students and staff are asked to wear their black UNO gear and make a donation in support of UNO scholarships, colleges and programs, student groups and activities, inclusion and wellness, and other priorities.

This year, UNO has a goal to receive 4,000 gifts during the 24-hour day of giving. Every donor who makes gifts totaling $65 or more will receive a bonus UNO blanket.

To learn more, go to givingday.unomaha.edu.

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